Weavertown Road congestion frustrates drivers

Traffic at rush hour at the intersection of Morganza and Weavertown roads in Canonsburg was bumper to bumper in all four directions on a recent Friday.
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Any driver traveling Weavertown Road likely has horror stories about the heavy traffic during the morning and evening rush hours between Interstate 79 and Morganza Road.

While the state Department of Transportation has plans for improvements to correct the problem, that work is not scheduled for bidding until late 2015 with work to begin in 2016.

But state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, and Canonsburg Mayor David L. Rhome are hoping to convince PennDOT officials to move up the work.

Rhome said, when he took office in 2010, he promised improvements would be made, and he plans on making good on that pledge.

“I recognize the fact that the whole area is very congested,” Rhome said. “Some short-term improvements have been made, like a turning lane on Weavertown at Morganza.”

Rhome said residents have approached him about having an officer direct traffic during the rush periods.

“But PennDOT was adamant about letting the traffic signals do their job,” he added. “They said it would just create problems elsewhere.”

The road carries more than 20,000 vehicles each day between Route 19 in North Strabane and Morganza. Also on Weavertown is the off-ramp from Interstate 79 north and the on-ramp to I-79 south.

The project planned by PennDOT calls for traffic signal replacements at Morganza and Weavertown roads and at Adams and Euclid avenues. The Philip Murray Bridge over Chartiers Creek on Morganza as well as the railroad crossing would be renovated.

Improvements would be made to the signals along Adams and Pike at each intersection between Euclid and Strabane Avenue, about a 2 1/2-mile stretch. Solobay said improvements would be made to the signal timing.

Solobay said he met Monday with PennDOT officials.

“I’d like the project to be moved up as part of the transportation plan we will be voting on in the next few months,” he said, adding the project has already been approved for preliminary design. “With the increase in the number of homes and in the workforce, thanks to the new developments, that area has really gotten congested.”